1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydraulic steering damper apparatus for a saddle-ride type vehicle such as a motorcycle, used for controlling the oscillation of handling upon running. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus, which can provide a variable damping force.
2. Description of Background Art
To prevent the oscillation of handling due to kick-back upon external perturbations, a hydraulic steering damper apparatus which produces a damping force to the oscillation is known from, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2593461. Furthermore, an apparatus for producing a variable damping force arranged to produce a damping force only when necessary, while not to produce the damping force in other cases, is known. For example, an apparatus which performs a control based on a steering angle and a running speed is known from Japanese Published Unexamined Patent Application No. Sho 63-64888 and an apparatus which performs a control based on a change in the load on a front wheel is known from Japanese Published Examined Patent Application No. Hei 7-74023.
If such a steering damper is fixed to a top bridge, since the steering damper is comparatively heavy in weight and the top bridge is on the steering side, the steering inertia is increased.